The Nashville Predators are getting a rare bit of offseason shine, and The Athletic put them at the top of its list of the NHL’s most improved teams.
That kind of praise doesn’t usually land on Nashville, let alone at No. 1. But Dom Luszczyszyn saw enough in Chris MacFarland’s first summer as the Predators’ President of Hockey Operations/General Manager to make the call.
MacFarland arrived in June with plenty of expectations, and he wasted no time getting to work. Before the 2026 NHL Draft, he brought in centers Ross Colton and Jack Drury from his former team, the Colorado Avalanche.
He kept moving after that, adding winger Nils Hoglander, center Mavrik Bourque and defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin. Then he rounded out the run by signing Alex Kerfoot to a two-year contract.
Those moves came at the cost of future later draft picks and depth forwards, but the message was clear: Nashville was trying to patch real holes, fast. In a month on the job, MacFarland has already given the organization a very different look.
Luszczyszyn explained the thinking this way:
"While no one Nashville added moves the needle in a considerable way, the five players they did add are substantial improvements over who they’ll replace. Nashville had some of the league’s worst forward depth entering the summer; the Predators have addressed that admirably. "
Dom Luszczyszyn, The Athletic
The list of arrivals was: Mavrik Bourque, Jack Drury, Ross Colton, Nils Hoglander, Alex Kerfoot, Ilya Lyubushkin.
The departures were: Fedor Svechkov, Erik Haula, Zachary L'Heureux.
The Athletic gave Nashville a net rating of +27, a massive jump from last season’s -4. That stands in sharp contrast to the Predators’ 2025 offseason under Barry Trotz, when the team added Erik Haula, Nicolas Hague and Nick Perbix. Those moves were supposed to help in different ways, but the returns never really came.
Haula became part of the middle-six mix, but Nashville kept his rights and got nothing back. Hague dealt with injury issues, and Perbix never had the breakout many expected. The overall effect was limited, even if the idea behind the moves made sense at the time.
This year’s ranking raised some eyebrows. Washington, for example, added players like Alex Tuch, Jordan Kyrou and Boone Jenner, but still came in at three. Still, the Predators’ placement is hard to argue with if the lens is simply who improved the most.
MacFarland’s approach has been straightforward: attack the weak spots. Nashville needed help in the bottom six and on the bottom defensive pair, and that’s exactly where he focused. The hope is that skillful mid-range veterans can keep the team competitive while prospects develop and veterans eventually move on.
For Nashville, this offseason feels like the opening of a new chapter. The praise is in the bank now. The real test comes next season, when the Predators find out whether that positive buzz actually holds up.
In Other News...
Predators Fans Are Split Over This Massive Blue Line Rumor
The idea of Morgan Rielly landing in Nashville has certainly gotten people talking, but the rumor is doing most of the heavy lifting on its own. What has made the rounds is less a report with real sourcing than a speculative exercise, and it runs straight into the usual obstacles that come with a player of Riellys stature: salary-cap math, trade-market reality and the question of how a move like that would even fit on the Predators blue line.
For Nashville, the appeal is obvious enough. A defenseman with Riellys track record would instantly change the conversation around the back end, even with Roman Josi already anchoring the group. But the more you dig into the chatter, the more it starts to look like a scenario built to spark interest rather than reflect actual momentum, especially once the conversation turns to what it would take to make a deal work and how little credible confirmation there is behind it. [Read more 🡒]